Principles - By Ray Dalio

This is likely a book that I will re-read in parts many times over. If you want a no-nonsense peek behind the curtain of one of the most successful hedge fund founders, you’ll learn why he’s the most successful.

The book is very dense, so if you don’t care about finance, you can skip part I because it’s just about the history of Bridgewater (although you’d miss fun tidbits like the fact that Ray Dalio is basically the reason McDonald’s has chicken nuggets… he helped them lock in chicken prices by helping farmers leverage corn and soymeal futures thus locking in their feed costs). It’s actually very interesting!

But part II covers life principles, and he lays out a brutally honest but effective framework you can use to filer and evaluate your life choices and actions as it pertains to goals, contentment, and success. Lots of info, but if you read nothing else in the book, I recommend this middle section. I took away a lot.

Part III overs work principles, and is meant to be more of a reference as needed. I’m sure I’ll also look back on this depending on what is happening in my career.